


your hand feels so grand in mine

by wago9000



Category: The Trail to Oregon! - Team Starkid
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wago9000/pseuds/wago9000
Summary: prompt: "you cleaned my room for me while i slept?"some self-indulgent fluff about jack & eleanor [aka slippery when wet] and their relationship :)title from 'people will say we're in love' from oklahoma
Relationships: Jack Bauer Dikrats/Slippery When Wet Dikrats
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	your hand feels so grand in mine

**Author's Note:**

> context: this is before the two of them are married, before anyone knows about the baby besides eleanor herself. her dad [samuel] doesn’t approve of them dating bc jack is a Farmer, so they have to meet in secret.
> 
> recommended listening: ‘people will say we’re in love’ from the 2019 oklahoma revival & its reprise
> 
> my names for the tto folks are:  
> dad - jack bauer  
> mom - eleanor bauer   
> grandpa - samuel wallace  
> daughter - nellie bauer  
> son - oliver bauer
> 
> the kids and grandpa aren't in this but i will include this in any tto fics i write anyways :)

Eleanor was just trying to finish sewing her skirt when a rock soared through her open window and clattered to the floor. Frantic, she scooped it up and tossed it back outside.

“Jack, I told you not to do that anymore!” she hissed down at the rock-throwing culprit. He simply grinned back up at her.

“Hi El,” he said happily, his hands filled with rocks. “Can I come up?” Eleanor made a cross face, but nodded. His eyes lit up and he dropped the rocks to the ground. Then he hesitated for a second before picking a couple of the rocks up and shoving them in his pocket.

Jack hopped onto the hay bale he’d dragged there weeks ago, using it as a stool to hoist himself up to the section of roof under Eleanor’s window. As he climbed through the window, he hit his forehead against the edge of it.

“You’re such a fool,” Eleanor fussed, rushing to inspect his injury. She brushed her fingers against it gently and found no faults. She pressed a soft kiss to the spot. Jack’s arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in close as she did it. She smiled and tucked her head into his shoulder. “But I love you anyways.”

“I love you too,” he mumbled, squeezing her tighter. He held her for a long moment. She was so small. He knew she was on her tiptoes so she could reach his face. He only let go because he was worried that it might hurt to be on her toes for that long. 

“So what brings you here today, Mr. Bauer?” Eleanor teased, moving her sewing off her bed and onto the desk as she asked. “Making designs on my innocence again?”

“Naw, I just missed you. Wanted to see you smilin’.” She flushed at his words and sat down on the far edge of her bed. She smoothed her skirt out nervously, and patted the spot next to her. Jack flopped his whole body down next to her, nearly hitting his head against the wall.

“Be careful! Goodness, you could break a bone just walkin’ around!”

“I’ve never broken a bone in my life,” Jack said seriously, propping himself up on his elbows. “Now come here, I wanna hold you.”

“If I lay down, I will fall asleep,” she warned. “I’ve been… sick. I don’t have much energy.”

“That’s alright. I like just being with you.”

Eleanor smiled sadly. She didn’t know how she was supposed to tell him about the baby. Especially since she didn’t want to keep it. 

“Are you okay?” Jack asked, scooting forward so he could hold her hand. “Did I do something wrong?”

_ Just getting me pregnant. _

“No, I’m alright. You haven’t done anything. Let’s- let’s lie down.”

The pair curled up together in Eleanor’s small bed, Jack pressed against her back. He wrapped one arm over her torso and intertwined his fingers with hers. He hummed quietly as they laid together. 

He wished things could be different for the two of them. Why did her dad have to hate farmers anyway? He didn’t have any problem buying eggs and tobacco from the Bauer farm. Sure, he did it with a dirty look, but he always paid extra too. Jack just wanted to propose to Eleanor and start a farm of his own. He could grow wheat and corn and raise pigs, and Eleanor could sell her sewing! And maybe they could have some kids. Or a dog! Jack had always wanted a dog. 

Eleanor’s soft snoring pulled him out of his thoughts. She hadn’t been kidding about being tired. Jack hoped it wasn’t a serious sickness. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.

Jack gently detached himself from her and stood up. He glanced around the room and realized it was a lot less tidy than it usually was. There were scraps of fabric strewn across Eleanor’s desk, and a mess of papers underneath that. Careful not to disturb her in-progress work, he started sorting the fabric pieces into more organized stacks. Most of the fabric was plain blacks and whites, with a small smattering of deep reds. There was a hand-painted piece with tiny flowers on it that Jack desperately wanted to pocket and keep under his pillow, but he knew Eleanor would smack him if he did.

Once the fabric was all in a pile, it was on to the papers. Most of it was different designs for clothes. Usually practical dresses, but there were a couple of formal dancing dresses as well. Underneath all of them was one that surprised Jack: a small gown for an infant. Who did Eleanor know that was having a baby? Was it one of her family’s maids? She didn’t have many friends in town. Jack put this sketch on the top of the pile so he could ask her about it when she woke up.

With the desk finished, Jack turned to the dresser. He didn’t dare open it up and mess with her clothes, but he could rearrange the knick knacks on top of it. There weren’t many— a couple of her childhood toys, a bible, and some pressed flowers the two of them had picked when they snuck out one night. He did his best to make it look pretty, and thought it was going pretty well until he dropped a small wooden chicken on the floor. Jack winced at the sharp noise and scooped it back up quickly, but it was too late.

“Dad? Is that you?” Eleanor said sleepily. “Oh, it’s still you, Jack. I thought you would have gone home.”

“Naw, I was just, um…”

“Did you clean my room while I slept?” Eleanor asked, almost frantic. “You can’t just mess around with people’s things like that!”

“I didn’t mess with anything!” Jack said defensively. “All I did was stack your fabrics and your papers!”

Eleanor dragged her hands down her face tensely. “Okay. Okay. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. Thank you for trying to help. Just… ask, next time, please.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, sitting down next to her. “I won’t do it again. Did you sleep alright?”

“Yeah, yeah… it was fine.”

“I liked your drawings. I wish you’d show them to me more often. The fancy dresses are my favorite. I’m sorry I can’t take you dancing… I would if your dad didn’t hate me so much.”

“He doesn’t  _ hate  _ you… He hates farmers. And it’s alright. I don’t feel much like dancin’ these days anyways.” She rested her head against Jack’s shoulder. They sat quietly together for a minute, neither sure what to say. It was always like that after they had any kind of disagreement, even a tiny one like this. 

“Hey, who’s the baby clothes for? Is one of your maids having a baby?” Jack asked, pointing towards the drawing he’d left out. “If she is, I can make sure to put some extra food in your orders.”

Eleanor didn’t respond. She scooted away from Jack as much as she could. She fussed with her skirt nervously.

“El?” Jack said softly, scooting back next to her. “Are you still mad at me? Do you want me to leave?”

She shook her head. “No, but I’m scared you will.” She had been trying hard not to cry, but the tears were escaping anyways.

“Why would I do that? I love you.” Jack took her face in his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. He kissed her gently. She didn’t kiss him back. “El?”

“They’re for me,” she whispered, barely audible. “I’m pregnant.”

It was Jack’s turn not to respond. He was too stunned to speak. Sure, he wanted to have kids with Eleanor, but he thought they would at least be married first. 

“Jack?” He took both her hands in hers and gripped them tight.

“El… I’m not gonna leave you. I don’t really know what to do, but I’m not gonna leave. I’ll—I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll go downstairs and demand your hand in marriage if that’s what you want.” 

Eleanor let out a shaky breath and embraced Jack as tightly as she could. “I love you so damn much, Jack Bauer. I don’t know what to do either, but I know I get can through it with you by my side.”

Jack returned her embrace, glad she couldn’t see that he had started to cry as well.

**Author's Note:**

> ty for reading this !!! it made me soft to write it :) please let me kno if u have any critiques or also suggestions of tags i should add? idk how to tag anything anymore :0


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